bird: 25/50 of 71

A new report reveals huge declines in the UK's migratory birds that winter deep in Africa's rainforests. Shorter distance migrants are performing much better, with some recording big population increases.more...

Shearwater chicks are cute grey furballs with beaks, writes Simon Ager, and they are all too ready to use them on pesky wildlife researchers. But Cape Verde offers abundant compensations to nature lovers - so many that its future surely lies in conserving, not exploiting its biological riches.more...

Shocking events have taken place in Malta as hunters - angered by a temporary closure of the bird-shooting season - attacked bird watchers, writes Steve Micklewright. But with a Maltese politician taking on the role of Environment Commissioner, the real battle lies ahead: the survival of the Birds Directive.more...

A 5,000-house development has just won planning permission on a SSSI nature area in Kent which is home to over 1% of the UK's nightingales. It violates government planning policies, and ministers have the power to stop it. But will they? Yes they will, writes Martin Harper - provided enough people show they care!more...

Vultures have become one of the most threatened families of birds on the planet thanks to poisoning by the veterinary drug diclofenac. Now Birdlife has discovered that it's on sale in Europe - threatening to wipe vultures out and undermine significant EU investments in vulture conservation.more...

Airports around the world are waging a war on birds, writes Rose Bridger. It's meant to prevent aircraft bird strikes. But in fact, fatal (for people) collisions are rare - and even killing thousands of birds does little to reduce the number of strikes. Best fly less, and keep airports away from birds!more...

Today, on the 'Glorious 12th', well-heeled folk take to the hills to shoot grouse. And to be sure there's lots of birds to kill, writes Martin Harper, England's moorlands are burnt with dire impacts on their biodiversity and ability to absorb rainfall. It's high time to end this barbaric practice!more...

We know that Australia's dry bush has co-evolved with fire, so that means regular planned burning is a good thing? Up to a point ... some increasingly rare species depend on 'old growth' bush up to 100 years old, and over-frequent burning is putting them under long-term threat.more...

A global taxonomic review of birds has 'discovered' 361 new species that were previously considered 'races' of existing bird species - but many of them are endangered, forcing a rethink of conservation priorities.more...

A study published today in Nature shows a strong correlation between concentrations of a popular neonicotinoid pesticide in water, and bird declines, writes Helen Thompson. Regulators are under pressure to tighten up, but the industry still claims there's 'no substantiated evidence'.more...

The National Rifle Association has demanded that The Ecologist retract important elements of a story we ran about the threat to condors from ingesting spent lead ammunition, and the NRA's opposition to a lead ban. We publish our response.more...

Ample peer-reviewed science says that the number one threat to condor survival is lead poisoning from eating bullets and pellets in carcasses, reports Dawn Starin. But the powerful NRA is fighting hard against bans on lead ammunition.more...

bird: 25/50 of 71

Intensive grouse shooting on England's uplands is doing huge damage to fragile ecosystems, writes Martin Harper - and to the 'protected' hen harrier. It's high time to bring this industry under control with a new licencing system.more...

An application has been made to kill ten buzzards to protect pheasant poults at a game shoot. With buzzards only slowly returning to the UK after decades of persecution, writes Martin Harper, this and all similar applications must be rejected.more...

Spain's Coto Doñana shows the value of EU conservation law, writes Laurence Rose, as the UK tries to get rid of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Both have proved essential to the protection and restoration of one of Europe's greatest wetlands.more...

Britain's nightingales are in decline - not least because of intensive farming, and our insistence on building over their last refuges. But their song is as unforgettable as ever, writes Chris Rose, and that will surely be the key to valuing them more ...more...

Hormone-disrupting pollutants in the urban rivers of South Wales are having adverse effects on the health and development of wild birds such as dippers, writes Steve Ormerod. Could this humble bird be the 'new canary' for environmental toxins?more...

Right wing media and politicians have chosen the Somerset Levels as their battle field for fighting the 'green' agenda. There is just one problem - the facts. On the Levels themselves, there is a remarkable consensus about the way forward - and the future is Green.more...

As fierce public debate rages over how to manage the Somerset Levels, a Task Force of farmers, wildlife groups, official Agencies and Councils has agreed a new 'Vision 2030' for the Levels - one the mainstream media have entirely missed ...more...

Britain's barn owls are in trouble, their number 70% down on historic levels. A big reason for the dramatic decline is the growing use of toxic rodenticides to kill farm rats, writes David Ramsden, who urges us to join the campaign to limit their use.more...

An enquiry which started in the UK in 2009 involving the collecting and trading of wild birds' eggs, has led to the conviction of three Swedish egg collectors - and reveals the international scope of the wild egg trade.more...

Horrified at the giga-scale death of birds caused by collisions with trendy expanses of plate glass in modern buildings, James Fischer calls on architects to bring an end to the needless slaughter - and "save a billion birds"!more...

A dinner on the deck is interrupted by the fall of a baby sparrow. The event triggers a flood of thoughts and powerful emotions - and a renewed faith in our children's ability to grasp an uncertain future.more...

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